


Falling

by RebeccaKay27



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 14:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2273589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaKay27/pseuds/RebeccaKay27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jacqui was openly weeping on the phone.</p><p>Broken. Completely broken. No skating for at least three months.</p><p>Ankles were stupid, weak, fragile pieces of trash-- she had thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

Meryl Davis wasn’t much of a cook, having little to no time to ever prepare meals on her own, but she was 18 and she was determined to manage some simple brownies.

 

She needed to do something to pull her partner, Charlie White, out of his slump.

 

It was Jacqui White, his mother, who had called her with the news.

 

She knew he was at a hockey tournament, and although she was always a bit nervous that something would happen to him, she couldn’t wait to receive the familiar text telling her how the game had gone. Usually it came as soon as he had a chance to get back to the locker room and begin taking his gear off. Usually it was simple, and told how long he’d actually played, and whether the team had won or lost. Usually her phone had already vibrated, and his name had popped up, and she’d exchanged a quick message or two with him.

 

But he hadn’t messaged her at all. Instead, she had received a frantic call. Jacqui was openly weeping on the phone.

 

Broken. Completely broken. No skating for at least three months.

 

 _Ankles were stupid, weak, fragile pieces of trash_ \-- she had thought.

 

Their season hadn’t been perfect so far, but they were just beginning to get the hang of their programs.

 

Last year they’d gotten silver at junior nationals. This year, they wouldn’t even make it to sectionals.

 

They were hoping to jump into seniors in a couple years, and begin taking the world by storm.

 

But instead they were benched. Well, he was benched. She still had to go to practice where the other teams would look at her like she was a forlorn puppy, and their coach would make her practice with any man who had a body and could strap on skates.

 

She missed Charlie.

 

Over the years, she had taken for granted all of the simple things that made him _,_ and their partnership, special. His speed and power on the ice. The way his hair whipped around when he was twisting her into a lift. The way he smelled like fresh soap, freshly cut grass, and optimism. The way his laughter could fill up even the furthest reaches of the rink.

 

Okay, so maybe she had an unhealthy fascination with her partner, but it sure made _look at him like woman look at man_ so much simpler.

 

Off-ice, she acted. On-ice, she just was.

 

It was backwards, but it worked.

 

But without him, she was just _lonely._

 

She still went to see him a few times a week, but Charlie just wasn’t Charlie when you took away the ice. Between ice dance, singles, and hockey, Charlie barely ever left the rink. His skates were beginning to collect dust and it just didn’t feel right.

 

So they’d watch Lord of the Rings.

 

Or she’d tell him about practice.

 

Or they’d do homework in silence.

 

Spending so little time with Charlie was really beginning to bring her down, and to be completely honest, she missed their physical intimacy.

 

He was like her boyfriend on ice, and the little caresses and looks and sweet gestures made her want to believe that she was desirable. To go from having a hand to hold every day, to having a surly homework partner, was a change she never thought she’d have to make, even temporarily. It was like they’d broken up, and she hated it.

 

When she got to Charlie’s house, she entered without taking the time to knock. The Whites had told her a long time ago that she was family, and family didn’t knock. She loved having a second home where she felt just as accepted and loved as she did in her own.

 

“Meryl, is that you?” Jacqui shouted, popping out from the kitchen.

 

“Why, yes it is!” Meryl beamed, bouncing her way over to Jacqui and giving her a hug.

 

“I miss weekends spent at competitions,” Jacqui pulled her in closer, one of her trademark embraces.

 

“Me too! And the shopping!” Meryl teased. Charlie hated it when all the girls wanted to do was go shopping. He could own three shirts and a pair of jeans and be just fine.

 

“Well, there’s always next season,” Jacqui smiled and let her go. “How has practice been?”

 

Meryl sighed loudly, she couldn’t help it. Jacqui knew just how pained she felt having to drag herself to practice on her own. “It’s going, I guess,” she grumbled.

 

“There’s always a reason for everything, Meryl. I think maybe you and Charlie had to go through this to see just how much you mean to each other. Your skating, of course,” Jacqui winked at her knowingly. It was no big surprise that Cheryl and Jacqui had already practically planned out her wedding to Charlie. If arranged marriages weren’t a thing of the past, they’d have it planned for Charlie’s 18th birthday.

 

If she wasn’t so young, she probably wouldn’t have even minded that idea.

 

“You’re probably right,” Meryl agreed.

 

“Charlie’s up in his room. Dinner will be in an hour, so make sure you guys are down here by then!” Jacqui threw over her shoulder, retreating back into her kitchen.

 

“Will do!” Meryl replied, flying up the stairs and down the hall to Charlie’s bedroom.

 

She knocked twice. “What?” he grumbled, and she knew he was in another one of his existential moods.

 

“It’s me,” she squeaked.

 

“Come in,” he responded, seeming a little more cheerful now that he knew it was her.

 

Charlie was propped in the middle of his queen size bed, foot elevated, watching a game on TV. His curly mop was hanging in his eyes, and even though he was allowed to cut it because they were sitting out the season, he hadn’t. Some part of him was stubbornly holding onto hope that his bones would miraculously heal and he’d be able to get back on the ice. It was the last outwardly sign that he was an ice dancer, and he wasn’t letting it go.

 

Even though he hated his long hair.

 

She jumped onto the bed, sitting down with her legs crossed.

 

“Guess what I brought?” she poked him.

 

“A velociraptor?” he rolled his eyes.

 

“No, a mastodon,” Meryl dead-panned, scooting closer to him. “Cheer up, buttercup,” she smacked him in the stomach.

 

“I’m sorry Meryl,” he met her eyes, and his words were sincere enough. She knew this was hard for him. She knew he felt like a burden.

 

“Speaking of totally awesome things like dinosaurs, I brought… brownies!” she squealed, flinging the lid off the container and shoving one into her mouth.

 

It wasn’t often she allowed herself to cheat her diet, but if it was necessary to make Charlie smile, she was going to do it. He was immediately laughing.

 

“You’re gonna get crumbs on my bed,” he smiled at her, picking out a brownie of his own and savoring every bite. “These are so good,” he moaned.

 

If only she could make him sound like that by doing something else.

 

The thought made her shiver.

 

“I made them myself!” she answered, proudly. “How was school today?”

 

“Boring. They let me leave class early so I can get to my next class on time, so that’s nice of them.” He began to rattle off all of his complaints from the day, “The crutches are starting to give me bruises that rival the ones you give me, so there’s that. I have way more time on my hands than I’ve ever had, so my mom thinks I should be getting straight-A’s, which I’m still not. I’m missing out on hockey season, and my singles programs this year were so good, and I don’t even get to dance with you, and so I’m pretty over everything.”

 

“Well shucks, tell me how you really feel,” she tried to liven the mood with a cheerful smile.

 

“Thanks for trying to help, Mer. You’re the only person who comes to visit me like this and doesn’t just make fun of how mopey I’ve been. It’s nice that somebody understands,” he reached his hand out, as if to grab hers but pulled away at the last second.

 

It had been so long since she’d felt that hand. But they’d never been people who touched just for the sake of touching. Their physical relationship was specifically relegated to the ice, and they’d both always kept it that way.

 

She missed his calloused fingers.

 

“We’re partners,” she tried to downplay his thanks. “It’s my job to be here for you when you need me. Besides, if we’re going to kick butt next year, we can’t lose our chemistry.”

 

“So team-building is now brownie eating?” he teased, pushing his wayward curls out of his eyes.

 

“I’m going to make you good and fat, Charlie White,” Meryl joked, her eyes sparkling.

 

“You must like getting a break from me. Now you’re trying to extend it by getting me out of shape!” he exclaimed, as if just stumbling on a profound idea.

 

“You’re right,” she played along, “you would be disgusted to know how many pounds of lard went into each individual brownie.”

 

His laughter rang off each wall, and it felt so good to hear him laugh like that. It had been a long time, probably their last practice before he’d left for the hockey tournament of doom.

 

“Your mom wanted me to tell you that dinner is going to be in an hour,” she looked at him fondly, her care for him apparent in her voice. Sometimes she couldn’t hide just how much spending time with him meant to her.

 

“Well good. Perfect time for a nap,” he settled down into his pillows, closing his eyes.

 

_Wait- did he mean, together?_

 

He quirked one eye open, “Well, are you just going to sit there, or are you going to come to the dark side of laziness with me?”

 

She put the lid on the brownies and set them on his bedside table before stretching out on the bed, still keeping a good foot of distance between her and her partner.

 

“I’m kinda cold on my right side, Mer. Maybe you could help me out,” he teased. She shoved him lightly, but couldn’t stop herself from curling into his side and resting her head on his chest.

 

His arm rested around her shoulder, and it felt like _home_.

 

How long had she gone without this?

 

And now they were _in his bed_ , and she had never taken a nap with anyone. It seemed like such an intimate thing-- taking a nap with someone. Sleeping, in the same bed. But she was Meryl, and he was Charlie, and while this was so different and new, it also felt kind of like second nature.

 

Like what their life would be like if the stories they created on the ice would travel with them once they reached the boards.

 

And nothing had changed, and it probably wouldn’t, but if even a small nap would help Charlie feel better, she would comply. So Meryl did her very best to let the tension ease out of her system, breath him in, and let sleep overtake her.


End file.
